For most of 2018, except when the Columbus Crew were the opponent on any particular weekend, everyone who is a fan of Major League Soccer was a fan of the Crew. Save The Crew wasn’t just a hashtag on Twitter; it was a rallying cry. Fans rallied and hoped and prayed for someone — anyone — with deep pockets to step in and stop Anthony Precourt from moving their beloved Black and Yellow from the Buckeye State to deep in the heart of Texas.
That happened, thanks to the Haslem and Edwards families, and the Crew aren’t going anywhere.
Yet while Columbus (0-0-1, 1 point, 6th in the East) has new owners and a new manager in Caleb Porter, the Crew aren’t expected to change much in the way they play in 2019.
That means beautiful soccer, and they’re bringing it to Route 1 for the Revolution’s (0-0-1, 1 pt, 7th in the East) home opener Saturday afternoon (2 p.m., NBC Sports Boston/WBZ-FM 98.5/AM 1260 in Portuguese).
Even with that known, and even with quite a bit of firepower returning to the Crew in 2019, we believe the club missed a gigantic opportunity to claim three points last Saturday against a scaled-back New York Red Bulls side that is currently concentrating on the CONCACAF Champions League. Thanks to Tuesday’s match with Mexico’s Santos Laguna, a 2-nil New York loss, the Red Bulls elected to play a mainly weakened defense, with the exception of Michael Murillo at right back against Columbus. Murillo was on a yellow card accumulation warning in the CCL, and he did not play at mid-week.
And even with the attacking quartet of Gyasi Zardes, Justin Meram, Federico Higuain, and Pedro Santos, even with more than 67 percent possession and 557 total passes, the Crew only managed to score once on Kris Robles — and had to do it in come-from-behind fashion.
Porter trotted this lineup out last weekend, setting up offensively in a 4-2-3-1, the same usual type of offense that former manager Gregg Berhalter would utilize: Zach Steffen; Waylon Francis, Gastón Sauro, Jonathan Mensah, Harrison Afful; Artur, Wil Trapp; Justin Meram, Federico Higuain, Pedro Santos; Gyasi Zardes.
After New York went up 1-0 six minutes into the game, Columbus would sink into a 4-4-2 defensively. The Crew had given up too much space on the goal and weren’t organized, which started with an unforced turnover by new signing Waylon Francis. Columbus hadn’t gotten up into New York’s faces in the build-up, and that prompted the Red Bulls to spring an attack.
The 4-4-2, however, was organized, and it prevented New York from getting anything started offensively the rest of the match. The Revolution, should Columbus get into the 4-4-2, will need to unlock this type of defending.
One thing about last Saturday: New York had a goal called back for offside after one-touching the Crew to pieces. And that came after Artur laid off a loose ball in the midfield, instead deciding to wheel back and defend.
While watching Columbus Monday, I noticed the Crew have done a little bit of building from both the wings and the back. The Crew’s veteran offensive corps change the point of attack rather effortlessly, can slice, dice, and julienne a defense apart with pin-point passing, and can really play some beautiful football when in the attacking third.
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